In conventional soldering, two metal parts to be soldered are cleaned, and a flux is applied to the portions of the parts to be joined. Solder and heat are applied. The solder melts and later solidifies to bond the parts.
Various means have been developed to improve the soldering process, such as dip soldering. Dip soldering may be performed in one of two methods.
In one method, solder is placed in position between the surfaces of two parts which are to be bonded. The parts are then dipped into a bath of flux at a temperature above the melting temperature of the solder, causing the solder to melt. Disadvantages of this method include the difficulty in positioning solder in hard to reach places between small parts and in soldering irregularly shaped parts with non-matching surfaces.
In a second method, parts to be soldered are dipped into a bath of molten solder. Before dipping, the parts to be soldered are thoroughly cleaned of oxides and surface debris, most commonly by mechanical means. This labor intensive cleaning is impractical when large parts, such as aircraft wings, are to be soldered and may be impossible when soldering smaller parts having a large surface area, such as a beat exchanger.
The present invention contributes to a solution to the problems of the prior art. The method and apparatus of the present invention permit soldering parts of any shape without prior mechanical cleaning of surface debris.